Divine Blessedness

We are nearing the end of our study of the biblical metaphors for God as well as His names and attributes, so it is fitting for us to look now at a few attributes that summarize many other truths about God’s character. Today we will start with the truth of divine blessedness. As the Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:31, God “is blessed forever.”

What is divine blessedness? Theologians such as the seventeenth- century Reformed scholastic thinker Petrus van Mastricht have studied the Scriptures on this topic and have given helpful definitions of the blessedness of God. Van Mastricht says that God’s blessedness “is contained not only in an exact knowledge of his own self, a knowledge proper to him alone (Rom. 11:34; 1 Cor. 2:11), but also a fullness, repose, and joy in himself, in the communion of the persons, and in all his works (Prov. 8:30; Matt. 17:5).” Thus, we see that divine blessedness involves God’s perfect knowledge of all things, including Himself (His omniscience) and His joy and rest in His works (God as Creator and His sovereignty); in His own nature (including His eternality, self-existence, and transcendence); and in the fellowship that He enjoys within Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (love and goodness). That is just a brief overview; we could fit all of God’s attributes into His enjoyment of His own self.

Divine blessedness focuses on the Lord’s delight in Himself and what He does. But this is not a delight like what we might feel over our having completed a job well or a well-placed pride in something that we or a loved one has accomplished. Even when we rightly delight in or are proud of what we have done, elements of regret can remain. We can stew over the imperfections of our acts even if others do not see them. We can think of things that we would like to have done better. God’s delight, however, features no regret, and His delight cannot be increased or diminished because He is perfect and complete in and of Himself (Deut. 32:4). Thus, van Mastricht says, “It is not just any sort of enjoyment of his own blessedness that is sufficient for God, but an enjoyment that is perfect in every way.”

It would be improper and sinful to have such perfect enjoyment of ourselves because as finite creatures, we and all our works can get better. But God must enjoy Himself perfectly in every way because He is perfectly and infinitely delightful.